How to buy Rio Tinto (RIO) shares

By   |   Verified by Andrew Boyd   |   Updated 9 Nov 2023

Rio Tinto (LON: RIO) is the world’s second-largest metals and mining company. They constantly grow through mergers and acquisitions. The massive Anglo-Australian corporation has been trading successfully since 1873.

Rio Tinto extracts and processes dozens of metals and minerals. Their portfolio includes many of the battery metals that the world needs to reach its carbon reduction goals.

Read on for a guide to where you can buy their shares and how to do it for first-time investors.

Unsure about what share dealer to use?

Where to buy Rio Tinto shares

eToro

On website

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk

eToro

Highlights

  • Trade and invest in top financial instruments, including a wide selection of stocks.
  • eToro is regulated by CySec, FCA and ASIC
  • Your funds are protected by industry-leading security protocols.
Hargreaves Lansdown

On website

Hargreaves Lansdown

Highlights

  • Offers easy-to-use trading platforms.
  • Invest across 20 international exchanges in shares, funds, bonds and investment trusts.
  • Dealing charges depend on how many trades you make each month.
Lightyear

On website

When you invest, your capital is at risk.

Lightyear

Highlights

  • Invest in over 3,000 international ETFs and stocks in the EU, UK, US, and more.
  • Simple and easy-to-understand pricing. Per order, Lightyear will charge 0.1% (up to $1 max) on US shares, £1 on UK shares, and €1 on EU shares.
  • Earn interest* on uninvested cash, USD (4.50%), EUR (3.25%), GBP (4.5%), and HUF (8.25%)  p.a. gross.
  • No account-keeping fees.


*The interest rates are true as of 12.06.2023
* Finty will be paid a referral fee, including financial promotion if you open an account and deposit funds through some of the links on this page.


Pros

  • No withdrawal fees.
  • US Fractional Shares are available.
  • A low 0.35% foreign exchange fee.

Cons

  • Limited investment products.
Saxo Markets

On website

Saxo Markets

Highlights

  • It only takes five minutes to open your account online.
  • Get ultra-competitive spreads and commissions across all asset classes.
  • Get news, commentary and actionable trade ideas from their team of expert analysts.
Wombat Invest

On website

Wombat Invest

Highlights

  • Simple and straightforward investing app.
  • Allows you to invest in ETFs (Standard ISA or GIA) and Fractional Shares (GIA only).
  • Get a savings account and unlock 4.91 %AER (variable) paid daily.
  • Open an Individual Savings Account and invest up to £20,000 each year.



Disclaimer: When you invest, your capital is at risk.

Pepperstone

On website

80.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs

Pepperstone

Highlights

  • Trade gold, silver, oil, and more.
  • Enjoy industry-leading low spreads from 0.0 pips.
  • Regulated by ASIC, BaFin, CMA, CySEC, DFSA, FCA, and SCB.
Freetrade

On website

Freetrade

Highlights

  • With fractional shares, you can start investing from only £2.
  • Choose from thousands of stocks from the London Stock Exchange, NYSE and NASDAQ.
  • Access to a wide range of ETFs and Investment trusts.

Compare share trading accounts on Finty. Research fees, commissions, tradable assets, markets, etc.

First time buying?

How to buy Rio Tinto shares

Step 1: Pick a share broker

Rio Tinto is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange. Make sure that your broker has access to one of those stock markets in order to buy their shares.

Other attributes to take into consideration when choosing a broker include the cost of brokerage (many are now commission-free), what markets you can access, what you can trade (equities, commodities, etc.), whether you can buy fractional shares, and the overall usability of the trading experience.

If you are unsure about which broker to use, you can set up a demo account with some brokers — like eToro — and give it a trial run before funding your account.

It’s quick and easy to compare brokers with our comparison page on Finty.

Step 2: Fund your account

Once you've decided on a broker, you'll need to transfer money to your account in order to begin trading.

You can fund your account with a bank transfer or debit card. Some brokers also support credit cards and PayPal.

Step 3: Decide how much to buy

Since share prices can go up or down, it’s important not to invest any more than you can afford to lose.

You can use the pound cost average strategy to decrease your exposure to price volatility with periodical investments over time. Some brokers offer recurring buys so you can automate this.

Step 4: Choose between ETFs or shares

Another way to diversify your portfolio is to invest in an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) with exposure to Rio Tinto rather than investing solely in Rio Tinto shares.

ETFs offer exposure to several companies and are often focused around a common theme. For instance, an ETF might only include shares of miners. Since an ETF is diversified across a range of stocks, they typically have lower volatility than a single stock. The trade-off is that they are less likely to experience a rapid increase in valuation.

ETFs with exposure to Rio Tinto include VanEck Steel ETF (SLX), Invesco International Dividend Achievers ETF (PID), and First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources Income ETF (FTRI).

Step 5: Configure your order

The easiest order is the market order, which means the broker buys shares at the next available market price.

Most brokers also offer the ability to set up orders that are automatically triggered under specific circumstances. For example, you could configure an order to automatically buy or sell Rio Tinto shares when they reach a pre-defined price.

Step 6: Place your order

Once you've configured your order, submit it to buy shares.

After you buy

What moves Rio Tinto's share price

As well as tracking the Rio Tinto share price, it is important to understand what is happening in the mining and metals industries. Rio Tinto is involved in extracting a wide range of metals and minerals across the world.

Considering the move to electrification, demand for rare earths and minerals is forecast to experience strong growth. However, there are legitimate concerns with regard to the environmental impact of their extraction. Given where some in-demand rare earth deposits are located, Rio Tinto also has political considerations to deal with.

Rio Tinto’s main competitors are BHP Group (LON: BHP), Glencore (LON: GLEN), Anglo American (LON: AAL), Kronos Worldwide (NYSE: KR0), and Alcoa (NYSE: AA).

Disclaimer: We put our customer’s needs first. The views expressed in this article are those of the writer’s alone and do not constitute financial advice. Advertisers cannot influence editorial content. However, Finty and/or the writer may have a financial interest in the companies mentioned. Finty is committed to providing factual, honest, and accurate information that is compliant with governing laws and regulations. Do your own due diligence and seek professional advice before deciding to invest in one of the products mentioned. For more information, see Finty’s editorial guidelines and terms and conditions.